Magical Girl Team Lucky Star
Magical Girl Team Lucky Star (魔法少女隊らき☆すた Mahō Shōjo-tai Raki☆Suta) is a magical girl series created by Driller TV, Inc. It first broadcasted on TV Asahi in Japan in 1981 and finished broacasting in 1987. The series was dubbed in English in 1990 by DiC Entertainment and broadcasted on ABC's Saturday Morning block from 1990 to 1996. In the English dub, each episode began and intermissioned with a two-minute live action segment with the four main characters living in a Kyoto apartment, all of which took place before they discovered the Lucky Star pearl. They would be frequently visited by a celebrity from the United States (including one high-profile episode in which they were visited by former US president Ronald Reagan, who came on in a propaganda-motivated appearance to sway public opinion against Iraq in the lead-up to the Persian Gulf War; several other segments garnered criticism for being commercials for upcoming movies and other DiC properties, especially one rather egregious segment in which Michael Eisner came on to promote the then-upcoming Disney animated film Aladdin). The live action segment would be followed by a cartoon based on them but more kawaii (cute) versions of them in that distictive Mr. Driller style where they battle Dr. Manhole throughout the many cities in Japan, often in a movie or a historical parody. A manga reboot taking place in a realistic setting with updated character designs was first published in Comptiq magazine in December 2003, and was followed by a successful anime adaptation by Kyoto Animation in 2007, featuring the original voices of the four female leads reprising their roles (Susumu Hori was completely eliminated in the reboot; conversely, characters who had made minor appearances in the original series, such as Yutaka, Minami, Hiyori, Patricia, Misao, Ayano, Sojiro, Yui, Yukari, and Nanako, were given much bigger roles and more development). Story 16-year-old Konata Izumi, a ditzy otaku girl who is princess of the Lucky Star Kingdom, possesses a special pearl known as a Lucky Star. This magical pearl allows her to produce electricity, which she assumes to defeat the terrorist group Team Ankoku. Development The series was originally going to be called Magical Princess Konata, but due to copyright laws with Magical Princess Minky Momo, the name had to be scrapped. The original idea for the anime was The Adventures of Cardcaptor Anna Hottenmeyer, but the developers didn't like the idea so they had to scrap it. Characters *'Konata Izumi' - The series's main protagonist and is the highest ranked magical girl in the world. She is a little crazy, but is still a good-natured, courageous young girl with a strong sense of justice. She may or may not have a crush on Kagami. Her two favorite colors are red and yellow. In the anime, she has green eyes with blue hair that reaches past her back that she tends to infuse with magic to use for a variety of applications. In the live action segments, she has green eyes with brown neck-length hair. She is voiced by Aya Hirano in Japan, and Wendee Lee in English. *'Kagami Hiiragi' - Konata's best friend and is the second highest ranked magical girl in the world. She is normally rather standoff-ish and a bit angry, but is also rather lonely. She may or may not have a crush on Konata. Her two favorite colors are purple and red. In the anime, she has blue eyes with purple pigtails. In the live action segments, she has blue eyes and a black ponytail. She is voiced by Emiri Katou in Japan, and Kari Wahlgren in English. *'Tsukasa Hiiragi' - Kagami's twin sister and like Kagami, she is the second highest ranked magical girl in the world. The ditz of the group, she is a happy-go-lucky klutz who is better at domestic chores than fighting, though when sufficiently angered, few can survive the hell she unleashes. Her two favorite colors are pink and red. In the anime. she has blue eyes and purple neck-length hair with a yellow hairband. In the live action segments, she has blue eyes and black hair in a short ponytail. She is voiced by Kaori Fukuhara in Japan, and Michelle Ruff in English. *'Miyuki Takara' - Konata's other friend and is the third ranked magical girl in the world. The brains of the group, she is more content to sit on the sidelines as a strategist rather than fight, though her abnormally-high IQ gives her the edge when she does fight. Her two favorite colors are white and blue. In the anime, she has purple eyes with glasses and pink hair. In the live action segments, she has brown eyes with blonde hair. She is voiced by Aya Endo in Japan, and Karen Strassman in English. *'Susumu Hori' - A young courageous boy with strong justice. Susumu has made numerous cameos in games and anime, including this one. He has a huge crush on Konata and has always wanted to marry her. He has brown hair and eyes. Quotes Season 1 Season 5 Episodes Season 1: The Kasai Saga Category:Anime Category:TV Shows